Vietnamese Yellow Curry (Low Calorie)

This is a great curry - but you will need to take my word for it - as  I could not get  picture that did it justice!
It is quite a wet curry - like a thai curry in that way - quite a lot of sauce, not as this as an indian curry.
I amended the recipe from a 250 calorie recipe - all I have added is more heat in the chillies - this recipe is quite hot - but in no way overwhelming.
After the initial blast it is a slow cook - so ideal to make ahead of time.

Serves 4


1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 Bunch spring onions - shredded (10-12)
2 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
500g skinless chicken thigh fillets - cut into bite size pieces
2 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cumin
1 stick lemon grass - finely chopped
3 green chillies - sliced
1 can light coconut milk
Handful fresh coriander - chopped








1 Prepare meat and veg as above - so you are ready to go
2 Heat the oil in a wide frying pan or wok.
3 When hot fry the spring onions, garlic and chicken for 3 minutes.
4 Stir in the spices, lemongrass and chilli and cook for 1-2 minutes
5 Transfer to a small casserole or slow cooker.
6 Pour over coconut milk, making sure chicken is covered. Top up with water if necessary.
7 Cook in the oven for 2 hours, or in a slow cooker for 5 hours.
8 Garnish with coriander and serve.

We served with rice and stir fried veg - and if you manage a good photo  - mail it over!!

South Indian style fish curry with Belgian beer

This recipe is a bit of a mix up  - its base is from Australian writer Paul Mercurio - the curry is south indian in style - but has Belgian beer as an ingredient.
It adds up to a creamy, hot and sour style curry - it has a bit of heat - but your will need to add more chilli if you like your currys really spicy.
On the fish  - you could add some squid, cut into tubes - or experiment with different types of fish - but you want something fairly firm, that isn't going to disintegrate.

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp black mustard seeds
3 red chillis, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch ginger, chopped

vegetable oil
1 onion sliced
1 tsp ground tumeric
1tbsp curry powder ( I used madras)
200ml coconut milk
160ml coconut creme
250 ml Leffe Blonde
45 ml lemon juice
1 tsp palm sugar
2 tsp fish sauce
10 curry leaves
200 sugar snap peas
400 - 500 cod fillets cut into bite size pieces
12 large prawns
3 tbsp chopped coriander

1 In a frying pan dry roast the cumin, coriander, half the mustard seeds until fragrant and they start popping.
2 Tip into a mortar and pestle and grind into a powder. Add the chilli, garlic and ginger, together with a pinch of sea salt, and pound into a paste.
3 Heat oil in a large casserole over a medium to high heat.
4 add the onion and cook for 10 minutes or so - until it begins to caramelise.
5 Stir in the tumeric, curry powder and remaining mustard seeds, and fry for a couple more minutes.
6 Add the spice paste, and cook out for approx 10 minutes, to combine all of the flavours.
7 Stir in the coconut milk and creme, and add the beer. Bring to the boil and the reduce the heat to a simmer.
8 Add the lemon juice, fish sauce, palm sugar and curry leaves.
9 Simmer for 10 minutes and check for seasoning.
10 Add the sugar snaps and cook for 5 minutes
11 Add the fish and prawns and poach for 5-8 minutes, until just cooked
12 Stir in the coriander and serve over rice.

enjoy with another Leffe Blonde!

Eggs Benedict with Mushroom

Eggs Benedict is one of my favourite brunch things - one of those things that often seems a bit too much hassle to make at home - but very nice when you're out and about!
This Saturday's Times included a few variations on the theme, by Tony Turnbull - and I couldn't resist having a go at the mushroom one - and it was a success - so here we go!
On the poaching of eggs - Tony opts for the stirring water and sliding in the eggs - I use Delia's method - which is as follows (in the recipe use your favourite way of poaching the eggs - it seems a very personal thing!) - Fill a small frying pan with 4cm water - get it to the point where it is barely simmering. Keep the water at that level - just the slightest appearance of bubbles. Break each egg into the water. Size 2 will take about 3 minutes. You can baste the top with water to help them cook. Remove very gently with a slotted spoon and rest the spoon on a wad of kitchen roll to absorb any water.

Mushroom Eggs Benedict
serves 4

4 Portobello Mushroom
4 Large egges plus 2 yolks
Juice of 1/2  lemon
100g butter
2 muffins, sliced and toasted

1 Poach your eggs
2 Remove stalks from mushrooms and fry in butter or oil for 5 mins, turning once
3 Meanwhile place yolks in a blender with lemon juice and a pinch of salt and blend
4 Melt the butter in a pan and slowly add to the yolks, with the motor running. Blend until pale and creamy
5 Place a mushroom on each muffin half, top with the egg, and coat with the hollandaise.

Enjoy - and get someone else to wash up all the pans............

A couple of final summer salads.......

As the leaves are changing colour - the evenings are getting darker - we are heading for the last couple of weekends of BBQ's  - other than our southern hemisphere friends, who will be BBQing and brai-ing in the rain for some time to come...
These two salads were included by Nigel Barden in a recent recipe for a lamb burger - and he credited them to Peter Gordon.
Both take ingredients that we use all the time - but add a twist - and both were great. I think they would be a great addition to any BBQ, or any grilled meats.

Beef Tomato and Mint

Obviously I have to stress the simplicity of this one - it is not reinventing the wheel, but I am not sure I have had these flavours together before, and it really works.

I made this a bit ahead  of time which allowed th flavours to develop.

2 beefsteak tomatoes - thinly sliced

6 -10 mint leaves 

drizzle olive oil

sea salt and black pepper

1 Arrange the thinly sliced tomatoes on a plate 

2 Sprinkle over the mint leaves

3 Drizzle with olive oil

4 Season generously with sea salt and pepper 

Feta and Avocado

1 avocado

1 lime

2 tbsp mayonaise

1 tsp dijon mustard

50g feta cheese (use more if a larger avo) - crumbled

1 Remove the flesh from the avocado - and put in a large bowl

2 Add 1/4 teaspoon of grated lime zest, and 2 tsp lime juice

3 Mash together

4 Mix in the mayonaise, mustard, and lastly the crumbled feta

This really was sensational. The avo I had was quite large  - so I think the recipe could have taken more of the feta.

Both of these are well worth a try - are simple, and can be made ahead of time. Let's just hope we get the weather to enjoy them!

Carnival Del Kerb @ The Paperworks SE1

The Kerb team have been taking some of their street food experts to Elephant and Castle on Friday nights in August and September. The last one is next week - so drop everything and get along!
In a collaboartion with the people from Corsica Studios the Kerb Team have taken over a derelict site on Newington Causeway. From the outside it doesn't promise much....

But once you get inside that all changes.

Kerb have 3 bars and 12 street food traders , and some great DJs. The vibe was brilliant - really relaxed - good music  - and a really great venue, with great facilities.

A really mixed crowd made for a great night. Kerb have some of their tried and tested favourites, and a few of their newer 'signings'. 

We tried wood fired pizza from the back of a specially converted Land Rover 

We managed a couple of others before we were defeated. Bill or Beak (http://billorbeak.co.uk/) - serving shredded pork and duck with vietnamese style dressing in brioche buns - which was great - really zingy dressing and generous filling -but the favourite on the night was an original burger from the people at Tongue 'n Cheek (http://www.tonguencheek.info/). It is probably the best burger I have ever had (sorry Blas)  - just SO meaty.

So if you are free next Friday it really is well worth a visit. Good venue, nice crowd, great music, and some of the best street food around!

Weeping Harissa Lamb with Boulangere Potatoes

As the weather has turned a bit colder and damper - it seems a good time for a warming roast.

This is an amalgamation of a few of my favourite things, and I think it works really well.

The finished dish does have a bit of heat - nothing too spicy - but a background of heat from the harissa.

The juices from the lamb, and some of the harissa, weep into the potatoes, making for a really rich dish. You will see that no fat is added to the potatoes when the dish is assembled.

All the work is done at the beginning - so its a good dish to do if you are entertaining.

I would serve with something green - just to cut through - as the lamb and the potatoes are quite rich.

I marinated the lamb for a few hours in the harissa - but this probably isn't essential.

For the potatoes it is definitely best to use a mandolin - remember to use the guard!!

1 leg of lamb (2.5 kg ish)

1/2 small can harissa paste 

4 large potatoes - peeled and sliced thinly (use a mandolin)

3 large onions - sliced thinly 

salt and pepper

500 ml chicken stock

1 Make some fine cuts in the leg of lamb. Rub the harissa all over the lamb, and leave to marinate for a couple of hours (if possible)

2 Preheat the oven to 200c.

3 Layer the potatoes and onions in an oven proof dish - which has to be about the same size as the leg of lamb. Season each layer generously with salt and pepper, and finish with a layer of potatoes.

4 Pour over the stock and press down lightly.

5 Put the potatoes in the bottom of the oven, and place the lamb on a small wire rack on the shelf above so that any juices from the lamb will weep into the potatoes. (keeping the lamb on a small rack makes it easier to handle)

6 Leave to roast for 1 1/2 hours. Every half hour press the potatoes down into the cooking liquid.

7 Remove the lamb when cooked to your liking, and rest in a warm place for 10 minutes before carving.

Chilli con Pollo

Okay don't blame me for the name - I am not sure it would be deemed correct - but this is a dish that is very like chilli con carne - but made with chicken. It uses up loads from the store cupboard - and can be bulked out just by adding more beans. You can use any mix of beans, pinto beans, borlotti etc
 It can be eaten on its own, with bread or rice.
When the original recipe was passed to me it was served with an avocado and red onion salsa - but I didn't think much of it!
A great midweek dish - and once you have the spices you can make again and again. The pickled jalapenos add a really nice heat - and you can adjust these to your taste - and serve some on the side for those who want extra heat.

Serves 6

1 large onion - chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 cloves garlic - crushed
1/2 cup sliced pickled jalapenos (these come in jars) - add more if you like it spicy - or serve additional alongside
6 skinless chicken thigh fillets  - cut into bite size pieces

1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp peri peri powder
1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 1/2 tbsp dried oregano

1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can black beans / black eyed (drained)
1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can sweetcorn kernels (drained)
250 ml chicken stock
1 small bunch of fresh coriander - chopped

1 Heat a large pot and add some vegetable oil
2 Add the onion and jalapenos, and cook until the onion is going translucent
3 Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes, making sure the garlic does not burn
4 Add the chicken, spread out across the bottom of the pan and cook until all of the chicken has taken on some colour
5 While this is happening I put all the dry spices together in a ramekin. Onceth chicken reaches the required point add all of the dry spices to the pot.
6 Stir the ingredients to make sue everything is thoroughly mixed. Scrape the bottom of the pan to avoid sticking.
7 Once everything is coated add the tomatoes, beans, sweetcorn and stock.
8 Bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer for at least 20 mins.
9 Add the chopped coriander, stir and cook fo a further minute - then serve